Conical ball separating means for ball rolling machines



Feb. 1, 1955 H. w. GRONEMEYER 2,700,813

CONICAL BALL SEPARATING MEANS FOR BALL ROLLING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed April '7, 1952 R M y 2 F M mm p W P m 1 T w A G W E mm my RN B Bmm m a W W 8 1.; :i. i. in 4 N Q km W n ww E \W N A 0% ON rm mm -W o 4mm \mm km 0,0 wm 6 mm mm *0 06 M" wc m 1955 H. w. GRONEMEYER CONICALBALL SEPARATING MEANS FOR BALL. R OLLING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledApril 7, 1952 IN V EN TOR H E2552 7- W GRONEME YER A TTORACEY 1 H. w.GRONEMEYER 2,700,813

CONICAL BALL SEPARATING MEANS FOR BALL ROLLING MACHINES Filed April '7,1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN V EN TOR. HERBERT W GPONEME YEP ,4 7'TOPNEYFeb. 1, 1955 H. w. GRONEMEYER 2,700,813

L ALL SEPARATING MEANS FOR BALL R Filed April 7, 1952 ill/mt UnitedStates Patent CONICAL BALL SEPARATING MEANS FOR BALL ROLLING MACHINESHerbert W. Gronemeyer, Kansas City, Mo., assignor to Armco SteelCorporation, a corporation of Ohio Application April 7, 1952, Serial No.280,982

7 Claims. (CI. 29-66) My invention relates to ball separating means forball rolling machines, and more particularly to conical ball separatingmeans.

in order that grinding balls can be produced rapidly in the mosteconomical and efficient manner, it is desirable to make the same from asteel shape, such as a rod, by a continuous method involving the formingof the balls from the rod or other shape in a connected series and theseparation of the balls of the series from each other w1thout haltingthe progress of the rod, which usually 1s supplied in coils of greatlength, through the formmg apparatus.

It is desirable in order to carry out such a method in a practical andefficient manner to avoid all reciprocating motions of any machine partsthat are involved in the forming of the ball-like or sphericalformations from the rod or similar shape and the separation of theseinto separate balls or units. Unless this is done no great gain in speedof operation will result over forging of the individual balls by cuttingoff lengths of rod and then forging the individual balls from such cutoff blanks by a reciprocating die, as is common at the present time.

While suitable ball formations can be formed from a rod or similarmember by means of rolling operations, this is of no advantage unlessthe reciprocating motions can be entirely avoided in separating theconnected ball formations thus formed. I accomplish this by providingtwisting means for separating the ball formations from each other, saidtwisting means comprising conical rollers that are grooved to receivethe ball formations so as to twist the narrow neck portions locatedbetween said ball formations and separate the ball formations from eachother by twisting one ball formation off from the next adjoining one.

Attempts have been made to make grinding balls and other ball-likemembers between a pair of rolls that have r spiral grooves of graduallychanging pitch and depth to form ball formations on a round rod andeventually separate these into individual balls. However, as varioussizes of balls have to be produced in practice, and as the rolls thatare used for rolling such objects as grinding balls wear out after acertain amount of use and have to be replaced, the use of such spirallygrooved rolls that gradually change in pitch and depth is so great that,even if these would successfully produce grinding balls, the cost wouldbe so increased as to be prohibitive, and accordingly such apparatus isnot practical.

It is the principal purpose of my invention to provide new and improvedmeans for separating grinding balls that are made from a continuouslength of rod by being hot rolled to produce a series of ball formationsthat are connected by narrow neck portions, said apparatus separatingsaid ball formations at said neck portions to provide separate ballformations by twisting each ball formation relative to the next adjacentball formation and continuing such relative twisting until the torsionexerted on said narrow neck formation separates one of said ballformations from the next adjacent one.

My improved apparatus progressively separates the ball formations, soconnected together in series, along the series one after another withoutproviding any moving parts that have a reciprocating motion, all of themoving parts rotating continuously in the same direction, which makes itpossible to greatly increase the speed of production of grinding ballsfrom rods or similar steel shapes without unduly increasing the cost ofthe apparatus for carrying out this method.

The connected ball formations are formed in the manner disclosed in myapplication Serial No. 58,933, filed November 8, 1948, now abandoned, onContinuous Method and Apparatus for Forming Balls. However, instead ofusing the apparatus disclosed in said co-pending application forseparating the grinding balls, which requires mounting the separatingmeans for oscillating or reciprocating motion, my improved separatingmeans operates by a continuous rotating motion always in the samedirection.

More specifically my invention comprises a plurality of conical ballseparating rolls that have spiral grooves therein for receiving the ballformations, said conical ball separating rolls rapidly increasing indiameter from one end thereof toward the other end thereof so that eachadjacent turn or convolution of the spiral groove in each of said rollsis much longer than the next turn thereto toward the smaller end of theconical roll. As a result, each ball formation in the connected seriesincreases in its rate of rotation about its own axis, and thus about theaxis of the connecting narrow neck portion between it and the nextadjacent ball formation, as it passes lengthwise between the separatingr-olls in a direction axially of the series, and as a result each ballformation that is nearer to the larger end of the rolls, and in contactwith a convolution of each spiral. groove nearer said larger end of therolls, is rotating at a higher speed than the next adjacent ballformation thereto that is in contact with a convolution of each rollnearer the smaller end of the rolls. Accordingly my apparatus causeseach ball formation to be twisted about the axis of the connecting neckportion relative to the ball formation adjacent thereto throughout thetime that it is in engagement with the twisting rolls.

It is a further purpose of my invention to provide conical ballseparating rolls that are provided with spiral grooves of uniform depthfor receiving the connected ball formations, which rolls are so shapedthat the diameter thereof increases rapidly from the small to the largeend thereof, to thus cause the ball formations to rapidly increase inrate of rotation from the small end of the rolls to the large end ofsaid rolls, whereby each ball formation is successfully twisted off fromthe next adjacent ball formation during the travel of the samelengthwise between the cooperating twisting rolls.

It is an important purpose of my invention to provide such ballseparating apparatus with conical spirally grooved ball separating rollsthat cause a relatively small rotation of the ball formations as theyfirst engage with said separating rolls, so that no great amount oftwist in the connected series of ball formations between the formingrolls and the ball separating means will occur, and thus to make itpossible to eliminate any holding means to prevent rotation of theconnected ball formations about the longitudinal axis of the series ofconnected ball formations between the forming rolls and the separatingrolls.

It is another important purpose of my invention to provide ballseparating means comprising a plurality of conical curved ballseparating rolls of the above mentioned character, in which one of saidrolls is yieldingly mounted so that it is held in cooperative relationwith the other ball separating rolls cooperating therewith by springpressure, thus avoiding any possibility of damage to the rolls shouldany mal-formed or improperly spaced ball formations enter the separatingrolls, and to provide means for moving said yieldingly mounted ballseparating roll toward and away from the other ball separating rolls,said means being constructed and arranged so that the roll mounted formovement toward and away from the other rolls can be quickly separatedtherefrom, should this be necessary because of improper operation of themachine or be cause of mal-formed material entering the separatingmechanism. Preferably, the yieldingly mounted roll cooperates with apair of similar rolls that are mounted to rotate about fixed axes at anoblique angle to each other, said yieldingly mounted roll being held ina position at an oblique angle to said pair of rolls and being urgedinto such position by resilient means, the mounting for said yieldinglymounted roll comprising a shaft on which the same is mounted, that ismounted for swinging movement about an axis transverse to the axis ofrotation thereof so as to be movable toward and away from the other pairof rolls and having means for swinging the same into and out of positionthat is selflocking to hold said swingably mounted roll in position tobe yieldingly urged into cooperative relation with the other pair ofrolls.

It is a further purpose of my invention to provide driving means for theconical ball separating rolls, that is constantly in driving engagementwhether said swingingly mounted roll is in cooperative relation with theother pair of rolls or not, and which rotates said rolls in the samedirection at the same speed.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear as thedescription of the drawings proceeds. I desire to have it understood,however, that I do not intend to limit myself to the particular detailsshown or described, except as defined in the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in verticalsection, of my improved ball separating apparatus, showing a fragmentaryportion of the ball forming means, the section being taken on the line1-1 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of my improved ball separating apparatus,showing a fragmentary portion of the ball rolling apparatus, the meansfor yieldingly holding the swingingly mounted roll in cooperativerelation to the other pair of rolls being omitted, and the bracketmounting therefor being shown in horizontal section.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. l on a somewhat largerscale than Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. l on an enlargedscale.

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. 1 on an enlargedscale.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the line 66 of Fig.1, and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the line 7--7 of Fig.2, showing some of the connected ball formations in engagement with theball separating rolls.

Referring in detail to the drawings, my improved separating mechanism isapplied to a ball forming machine having a main drive shaft 10, which isdriven from a suitable source by means of belts operating over a groovedpulley 11, said main drive shaft also driving the swaging rolls 12through suitable gearing, including reduction gearing, not shown. Saidswaging rolls 12 constitute the second set of swaging rolls in a ballforming machine, such as that disclosed in my co-pending application,Serial No. 58,933, filed November 8, 1948, on Continuous Method andApparatus for Forming Balls. In such a ball forming machine the ballsare formed from a rod or similar shape, the final swaging operationperformed by the rolls 12 producing a connected series of ballformations, the same being connected by narrow neck portions, as will beexplained below.

Mounted on the main drive shaft is a pinion 13, which meshes with alarge idler gear 14 mounted on a suitable shaft carried by the frame 15.The idler gear 14 meshes with a gear 16, which is keyed to the shaft 17.Also keyed to the shaft 17 is a gear 18 that has a broad face and isbeveled, as will be obvious from Fig. 1. The shaft 17 is mounted insuitable hearings on the upstanding portion 19 of the sub-base 23 on thebase 15, said bearings being provided with suitable removable capportions 20, as will be obvious from Figs. 1 and 2. Also extendingupwardly from the sub-base 23 are a pair of bracket members 21 that havetransversely extending pivot members 22 mounted thereon for a purpose tobe described below.

The sub-base 23 is provided with upstanding bearing bracket members 24and 25, the bearing bracket member 24 being longer than the bearingbracket member 25, and said bearing brackets having bearing portions 26and 27 therein, with which the bearing caps 28 and 29 cooperate to mounta shaft 30 so that said shaft extends upwardly at an oblique angle tothe base from the bracket 25 toward the bracket 24, and also inward- 1yat an oblique angle toward the axis of the shaft 17 frgm the bearing onthe bracket 25 toward the bracket 2 A shaft 31 is similarly mounted on apair of upstanding bearing brackets, the bearing bracket 32corresponding to the bearing bracket 25, being shown in Fig. 6, andbeing shown as having a cap portion 33 thereon cooperating with thebearing portion 34 to mount the one end of the shaft 31 for rotationtherein. The other end of the shaft 31 is mounted in an upstandingbearing bracket corresponding to the bearing bracket 24 shown in Fig. 1,and which has a cap portion 35 thereon, that cooperates with the bearingprovided in the upper end of the bearing bracket to mount the shaft 31in a similar manner to the shaft 30, so that said shaft 31 extendsupwardly relative to the base 15 toward the left hand end thereof, asviewed in Fig. 2, and inwardly toward the axis of the shaft 17 towardsaid left hand end, as shown in Fig. 2. The shafts 30 and 31 extend atequal angles to the shaft 17 on opposite sides thereof and to the base15 so that the axes of the shafts 31 will meet at a point that lies onthe axis of the shaft 17, which is also the axis on which the series ofconnected ball formations are fed into the separating means.

Mounted on the transverse pivot members 22 to pivot on an axistransversely to that of the shaft 17 and line of feed of the series ofconnected ball formations, is a frame that has a transversely extendingportion 36 having a central upwardly bowed portion 37 and alongitudinally extending portion 38 extending toward the ball formingmechanism from which the connected series of balls is received. Saidlongitudinally extending portion 38 is substantially semi-cylindricaland has a portion 38 thereof extending rearwardly from the transverseportion 36 of the frame. The portion 38' has a bearing portion 39 formedtherein, with which the bearing cap 40 cooperates to provide a bearingfor one end of the shaft 41, a bearing portion being provided at theopposite extremity of the longitudinally extending member 38 for theshaft 41, with which the bearing cap 42 cooperates. The entire frame isthus hingedly mounted or swingingly mounted relative to the frame of themachine on the axis of the pivot members 22, and the shaft 41 carriedthereby is similarly swingable about the axis of the pivot 22.

Mounted on the shaft 30 is a bevel gear 43 that meshes with the gear 18,and mounted on the shaft 31 is a bevel gear 44 that meshes with saidgear 18. said gears being keyed to the respective shafts. A similar butsomewhat narrower bevel gear 45 is mounted on the shaft 41 and mesheswith the gear 18. Accordingly, if the gear 18 rotates in the directionindicated by the arrow thereon, the gears 43, 44 and 45 will rotate inthe directions indicated by the arrows on said gears in Fig. 6. Thus allof the shafts 30, 31 and 41 rotate in the same direction.

The mounting of the frame carrying the shaft 41 is such that it haslimited movement about the pivot members 22 and this limited movement isso small that the gear 45 will always be in mesh with the gear 18 in anyoperative position of the shaft 41. it being noted that the gear 45 islocated on the shaft 41 substantially in transverse alignment with theaxis of the pivits 22 (see Fig. 1). The upwardly bowed portion 37 on theframe serves as a housing means for the gear 45. as will be obvious fromthe drawings. A pair of upstanding bracket members 46 are provided onthe sub-base 23 that have inwardly extending ortions 47 and a pair ofparallel upper end porti ns 48 that are connected to ether by atransversely e tending portion 49. The forwardly extending m m er 38 ofthe swinginglv mounted frame has a seat 50 thereon for a c mpressioncoil spring 51 and has a rod-like member 52 scre -threadedlv connectedtherewith.

A follower 53 is mounted betwe n the p r el u er end portions 48 of themembers 6 for uid d sliding movemen thereon. Such uided sliding movementof the member 53 may he pro ded in any suita e an er. as bv providing apair of fl n es 54 on each side of said member 53 en a in the op ositeside ed es of the members 48, as shown in Fig. 5. The r d-like member 52extends throu h a central openin in the member 53. and said rod-likemember has a threaded portion 55 t its uoper end. with which a sto nut56 is screw-threadedlv enn ed. It will be obvious that the stop nut canbe adinstecl to control the com ression on the spring 51 and thus thepressure exerted by the spring 51 on the frame. which tends to move theleft end of the longitudinally extending p rtion 38 thereof downwardly,as viewed in Fi l. The member 53 is also provided with a air of slots 57therein, and with a transverse opening 58, in which the pivot pins 59are mounted. said pivot pins traversing the slots 57.

Said pivot pins 59 serve to pivotallv connect the links 60 with thefollower 53. Said links 60 are pivotally connected at 61 with a link 62,which in turn is pivotally connected at 63 with a slidably mounted block64. Said block 64 is provided with flanges 65, by means of which it ismounted for guided sliding movement on the upper end f ortigns 48 of thebrackets 46, as will be obvious from The member 64 has a central slot 66therein to accommodate the link 62 and a transverse opening for thepivot pm 63, which pivot pin traverses the slot 66, as will be obviousfrom Fig. 3. A lever 67 extends from the link 62 from near the pivotalconnection 63 thereof with the block 64 and has an operating handle 68thereon. While the block 64 is slidable relative to the bracket portions48, its position is definitely determined by means of an adjusting screw69, which has screw-threaded engagement with a screw-threaded opening 70in the transversely extending portion 49 and is screw-threadedly engagedin a screw-threaded opening 71 in the block 64. The screwthreaded member69 has a head 72 thereon for adjusting the same, and is provided with alock nut 73 for holding the screw-threaded member 69 in adjustedposition. Thus the position of the block 64 is fixed for any adjustmentof the screw-threaded member 69.

It will be obvious that the links 60 and 62 form a toggle mechanism, andwhen said toggle is in the position shown in Fig. 1 the link 62 will bein engagement with a stop 74 so as to cause the spring pressure exertedby the spring 51 to lock the toggle mechanism in the position shown. Theadjustment of the spring 51 and of the stop member 69 is such that whenthe parts are in the position shown in Fig. l the shaft 41 will be urgedtoward the axis of the shaft 17 or downwardly at the left hand endthereof with sufficient yielding pressure of the spring 51 that, inoperating condition, the shaft 41 will have its axis passing through thepoints at which the axes of the shafts 30 and 31 intersect on the axisof the shaft 17. Thus in operative position, the shafts 30, 31 and 41will all have their axes radiating from a common point and will allextend at equal angles from each other on the surface of a cone, theapex of which would be at the point at which said axes of said shaftsintersect. Thus a three point support for the ball formations to beseparated will be obtained by the twisting rolls mounted thereon, whichwill be described below.

The shaft 30 has a ball separating roll 75 mounted thereon, the shaft 31has the ball separating roll 76 mounted thereon, and the shaft 41 hasthe ball separating roll 77 mounted thereon, the ball separating rollsbeing keyed to the respective shafts to rotate therewith. Said ballseparating rolls are identical in construction and are of a conicalcharacter, having the small ends 78 thereof located nearest the ballforming mechanism and having the larger ends 79 thereof mounted remotefrom said ball forming means. Each of said conical ball twisting orseparating rolls is provided with a spiral groove 80, which is of unform depth from end to end of each of said rolls, and is concave incross section, as will be obvious from Figs. l, 2 and 7. The pitch ofthe spiral of the grooves 80 is such that the convolutions thereof areclosely adjacent each other, as will be obvious from Figs. 1, 2 and 7,leaving rib portions 81 between the same. The apex angle of the cone inthe case of each of said rolls is such that each convolution of thegroove 80 is much longer than the next adjacent convolution theretotoward the small end of the roll, said apex angle of the cone of therolls shown in the drawings being approximately 30.

Said rolls are furthermore quite small at the entrance end thereof, orthe small end thereof, as compared with the work that is engaged by saidrolls. Thus the small ends 78 of the rolls are only a fraction of thediameter of the ball formations 82 that are connected by the narrow neckportions 83, and which are to be separated from each other by thetwisting rolls. The length of the convolution of the spiral groove 80 atthe larger end 79 of each roll is a multiple of the length of theconvolution at the smaller end of each roll and is, preferably, also ofa length that is a multiple of the circumferential distance around theball formation 82.

By providing conical spirally grooved twisting rolls that have ballreceiving grooves of uniform depth therein from end to end thereof, thathave a small end that is only a fraction of the diameter of the ballformations, and a large end that has a diameter a multiple of thediameter of the ball formations, the ball formations 82 that are betweenthe forming rolls 12 and the twisting rolls will be turned only veryslightly about the axis of the series of balls and thus about the axesof the connecting neck portions 83, having no appreciable twistingeffect on the connected series of ball formations, until after thesehave entered between the twisting rolls 75, 76 and 77. However, as eachsuccessive convolution of the twisting rolls is engaged by anyparticular ball formation in the movement thereof axially of the balltwisting mechanism due to the cooperative action of the twisting rolls75, 76 and 77, the ball formation will be in engagement with a longerconvolution on each of said rolls, which will cause the rate of rotationof the ball formation 82, and the amount of rotation thereof about theaxis of the series of connected balls to increase materially for eachsucceeding convolution of the spiral grooves on the twisting rolls, andby the time any ball formation 82 has moved into engagement with thelast convolution of the twisting rolls it will have been rotated ortwisted about the axis of the connected ball formations more than onecomplete turn.

In practice, it has been found desirable that this rotation be a totalof more than two turns about the axis of the connecting neck portions 83so as to be certain that the ball formation 82 in engagement with thelast convolution of the rolls with which it engages at the larger end ofthe rolls will be effectively separated from the next ball formation atthe left thereof, or toward the smaller end of the rolls. The torsionexerted on the short, narrow neck portions connecting the ballformations 83 will, under these circumstances, be considerable and willresult in the gradual twisting off of one ball formation from another asthe ball formations are traveling through the twist-off mechanism, aseach ball formation 82 to the right or toward the larger end of therolls from the next ball formation 82 will be rotating at a higher rateand will be twisted continuously about the narrow neck portion 83connecting these ball formations from the time each of said ballformations enters the twist-off mechanism until it is separated fromsaid adjacent ball formation.

By providing the mounting for the shaft 41 about the axis of the pivots22 with yielding means 51 urging the shaft 41 and the roll 77 toward therolls 75 and 76, a

sufficient sprmg pressure will be exerted on the roll 77 that the ballformations will be firmly gripped and held in frictional engagement withthe rolls 75, 76 and 77 under normal operating conditions, but in theevent any mal-formations exist in the connected series of balls, or saidconnected series of ball formations should not engage properly with thetwisting rolls 75, 76 and 77, the spring 51 will yield enough thatdamage of the rolls by engagement of such mal-formations or improperlyengaging ball formations will not occur. Furthermore, if it isnecessary, the operator of the machine can strike the handle portion 68of the lever 67 to quickly release the compression on the spring 51 andcause the roll 77 to yield upwardly, as the shaft 41 swings a limitedamount about the pivot members 22, sufficiently to permit any suchmal-formations, or improperly engaged ball formations, to be freed fromclose engagement with any of said rolls, this permitting removal of theundesirable or malformed material from between the twist-off rolls.After the mal-formed or other undesirable material has been removed, theseries of connected ball formations can again be placed in position forproper engagement with the rolls 75 and 76, and the roll 77 moved intocooperative relation therewith by swinging of the lever 67 to theposition shown in Fig. 1.

What I claim is:

1. In a ball forming machine, means for separating a plurality of ballformations connected by narrow neck portions comprising a plurality oftapering rolls mounted to rotate about axes extending obliquely to eachother, each of said rolls having a spiral groove therein extending fromend to end thereof, one of said rolls having means yieldingly urging thesame toward the other rolls, and means for rotating said rolls in thesame direction.

2. In a ball forming machine, means for separating a plurality of ballformations connected by narrow neck portions comprising a plurality ofduplicate, conical rolls mounted to rotate about axes extendingobliquely to each other, said rolls each tapering to substantially anapex at the small end thereof, means for feeding said connected ballformations into said rolls at the apex ends thereof, each of said rollshaving a spiral groove of uniform depth therein extending from said apexend thereof to the other end thereof, and means for rotating said rollsin the same direction.

3. In a ball forming machine, means for separating a plurality of ballformations connected by narrow neck portions comprising a plurality ofconical spirally grooved rolls mounted to rotate about axes extendingobliquely to each other, the smaller ends of said rolls being theentrance ends thereof, said rolls being of smaller diameter than saidball formations at the smaller ends thereof, each of said grooves beingconcave in cross section and of the same depth from end to end thereof,and means for rotating said rolls in the same direction.

4. In a ball forming machine, means for separating a plurality of ballformations connected by narrow neck portions comprising a pair oftapering rolls mounted to rotate about fixed axes extending obliquely toeach other, a tapering roll mounted for rotation about an axis movabletoward and away from said pair of rolls, said roll being mounted on ashaft mounted to swing about an axis transverse to the axis of saidroll, means for moving said shaft into a position with the axis of saidroll at a predetermined obIique angle to the axes of said pair of rollsincluding yielding means urging said last mentioned roll toward saidpair of rolls when stressed, and releasable means for stressing saidyielding means, and means for rotating all said rolls in the samedirection.

5. In a ball forming machine, means for separating a plurality of ballformations connected by narrow neck portions comprising a pair oftapering rolls mounted to rotate about fixed axes extending obliquely toeach other, a tapering roll mounted for rotation about an axis movabletoward and away from said pair of rolls, said roll being mounted on ashaft mounted to swing about an axis transverse to the axis of saidroll, means for moving said shaft into a position with the axis of saidroll at a predetermined oblique angle to the axes of said pair of rollsincluding yielding means mounted to swing the roll mounted on said shafttoward said pair of rolls, means for limiting swinging movement of saidshaft toward said pair of rolls under the influence of said yieldingmeans and releasable means for stressing said yielding means, and meansfor rotating all said rolls in the same direction.

6. In a ball forming machine, means for separating a plurality of ballformations connected by narrow neck portions comprising a pair oftapering rolls mounted to rotate about fixed axes extending obliquely toeach other, a tapering roll mounted for rotation about an axis movabletoward and away from said pair of rolls, said .roll being mounted on ashaft mounted to swing about an axis transverse to the axis of saidroll, means for moving said shaft into a position with the axis of saidroll at a predetermined oblique angle to the axes of said pair of rollsincluding yielding means mounted to swing the roll mounted on said shafttoward said pair of rolls and releasable means for stressing saidyielding means, comprising a toggle, and a lever for moving said toggleinto alternate positions, and means for rotating all said rolls in thesame direction.

7. In a ball forming machine, means for separating a plurality of ballformations connected by narrow neck portions comprising a pair oftapering rolls mounted to rotate about fixed axes extending obliquely toeach other, a tapering roll mounted for rotation about an axis movabletoward and away from said pair of rolls, said roll being mounted on ashaft mounted to swing about an axis transverse to the axis of saidroll, means for moving said shaft into a position with the axis of saidroll at a predetermined oblique angle to the axes of said pair of rollsincluding yielding means mounted to swing the roll mounted on said shafttoward said pair of rolls and releasable means for stressing saidyielding means, and means for driving all said rolls in the camedirection, said driving means including a gear on said swingably mountedshaft and a driving gear in mesh therewith in the alternative positionsof said shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS508,161 Barclay Nov. 7, 1893 582,471 Hesse May 11, 1897 1,746,671 MunroFeb. 11, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS 385.539 Great Britain Dec. 29, 1932443,418 Great Britain Feb. 27, 1936

